October/November/December 2024
Pickleball Complex Expansion Complete The Orchard Hill Pickleball Court Expansion Project is a partnership between the City and the Cedar Falls Pickleball Club. It was planned and developed over the course of the last two years. The upgrades include a new shelter, eight additional pickleball courts, and parking lot/entrance to the current park. The new courts are now open for play in Cedar Falls! With the huge growth of pickleball and our very active pickleball club, improved amenities are important to our quality of life. The parking lot is now hard surfaced and includes more parking stalls, including accessible stalls. This is a huge improvement from the previous parking lot which was much smaller, with no structured parking. We also widened the entrance, adding curbs to delineate and gain easier access to the park. It includes a sidewalk for safe pedestrian access to the park. The last great component to the parking lot work, is a detention basin to aid in watershed runoff during rain events. This basin will be able to store the 100-year rainfall event with additional capacity beyond that, while releasing the stormwater at the former two-year release rate.
Also this fall, several final aspects of the project will be completed: sidewalk connections, final grading/seeding, and landscaping. Come out with the family or friends and give pickleball a try! Be on the lookout through the Rec Center for City pickleball leagues available in the spring, summer, and fall, or indoors at the Rec Center in the winter. If you are a beginner wanting to learn the basics, the Pickleball Club offers a “Pickleball 101” class to help teach the basics of the game.
Aquatics 19 City Council 3 Community Main St. 13 Construction 9–11 Event Calendar 12 Hearst Center 14–15 Historical Society 13 Library 16–17 Parking 5 Public Meetings 3 Public Safety 4 Rec Center 18–19 Tourism 20 Waste/Recycling 8–9
Eight new pickleball courts are complete, west of the existing courts. Between the two court areas a new shelter and concrete pad is in place. This creates a 16-court pickleball complex. The new courts are fenced with a permanent windscreen on the north. On the west side of the new courts, closest to the park’s neighbors, a noise dampening blanket called AcoustiBlok was installed. This product greatly reduces the amount of sound coming from pickleball play. A number of spruce trees will be planted—creating a live fence—this fall.
New Parks Master Plan! Watch for Signs! Kickoff of the planning effort for the City’s Parks Master Plan is anticipated in October. The public will be invited to provide input for the plan. Stay tuned for updates this fall by visiting www.cedarfalls.com/ parksplan, or follow the City of Cedar Falls on Facebook @citycf. To receive emails or texts about upcoming meetings, events, or surveys about the Parks Plan, sign up at www.cedarfalls.com/notifyme. Pop up engagement is anticipated, so if you see a “Your City, Your Parks” sign at an event, come talk to us.